Machine for forming pneumatic tire carcasses



Aug. 15, 1950 E. w. WITT MACHINE Fog FORMING PNEUMATIC TIRE cARcAssEs 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 2, 1946V Aug. 15, 1950 E. w. wl'r'r 2,518,967

` MACHINE FOR FoRMIN PNEUMATIC TIRE. cARcAssEs v Filed Aug. 2, 194s a sn'cs-sheet 2 fz i H64. 32 i F/a 53 lll i f3 /M/f/Wae VAs the carcassformer rotates and .winding means simultaneously traverses the orbitalpath, the strip material is vlaid obliquely Patented Aug. 1,5, 1.950

MACHINE FOR Font/[ING PNEUMA'rIc 'rms cAacAssEs Earney William VWitt,Windsor, Victoria, Australla, assignor to Spiral Tyre DevelopmentCompany Limited, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Application August 2,1946, serial No; 687,813

In Australia August 24, 1945 ,l 7 Claims.

'i -Thisjinvent'ion relates to machines for forming pneumatic tirecarcasses and ofthe typein 'which'st-rip material (such as rubber cord)is wound upon a rotating former having axially projecting end flangeswhereby the strip `material is'guided and laid upon the rotating formerin `required,arrangement to form a tire carcass.

In a machine of this type, described in the specication of my Patent No.2,352,055, a carcass former is rotated about a vertical axis andsimultaneously about its longitudinal axis which is inclined to andintersects the Vertical axis at `the geometrical center o the carcassformer, rotation about the vertical axis drawing and winding stripmaterial upon and about the carcass former and rotation about thelongitu- "dinal axis determining the spacing of the strip Aconvolutionswound upon the carcass former.

Now the principal objective of the present invention is to provide animproved machine of @this type of simple construction, whereby cor-'re'ct laying of the strip material upon the car- ,cas's former isreadily achieved and an increased rate of production is attained.

A further objective oi the invention is the provision of means wherebythe angular arrange- 'ment of the convolutions of strip material tocomprise a tire carcass vmay be readily Vadjusted as required for theformation of the carcasses ofvarious sizes.

` Achieving the above stated principal objective and according to theinvention, a tire carcass 4forming machine oi the type specied,comprises ,a rtatable supportingfshaft, stripwinding means carried bythesupporting shaft and rotatable about'the extended axis of said"shaft, a strip supply seal carried by said winding means and ,movabletherewith, a rotatable shaft inclined to the extended axis andintersecting' said axis at the/center of rotation of the stripwindingmeans,

ajcarcass former securedtosaid inclined shaft rotational speeds.

the strip upon the carcass former and the successive windings of stripmaterial are laid side by side or are overlapped orA spaced apart asrequired.

At the termination of the carcass forming opgeration, thecompleted tirecarcass isremoved form a tire.

In attaining the above second recited objective of the invention, thelongitudinal axis of the carcass former is arranged so as to beangularly adjustable in relation to the plane of the orbital path of thestrip winding means, while an axial adjustment is provided for the stripwinding means, whereby the lattermay be adjusted to correspond withangular adjustments of the longitudinalaxis, and a transverseadjustmentk is provided for the strip winding means, whereby the axialmounting may be adjusted to maintain its alignment with the geometricalcenter of the carcass former to conform with changes in position of saidcenter consequent upon angular adjustments of the longitudinal axis.

The carsass formerV and' the strip winding means are interconnected bygearing actuated by a driving member, and variable speed means areprovided in the gearing whereby the relative rotational speeds of thecarcass former and the strip winding means are adjusted to change thepitch or spacing of the strip winding or convoluticns wound upon saidcarcass former. Moreover, means are provided whereby the tension Aof thestrip during the winding operation may be varied as and when required.

y The accompanying drawings illustrate one practical embodiment of atire carcass forming machine constructed in accordance with theinvention.

In these drawings: j Fig. l is a side elevation of a tire carcassforming machine in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a plan Viewof the line Y2---2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan of the machine. Fig. 4 isa front elevation with former removed. Y

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation with certain parts omitted.

The machine illustrated comprises a fabricated angle iron framework 5having a base 6, column 'I and horizontal cantilever portion 8 lixed tothe upper end of column 1. The base 6 is formed of two spacedangle-irons with suitable transverse members 6d and column 'l is formedof four vertical angle-irons attached to one endof the base member 6.The cantilever portion 8 is formed of two spaced arms or angle-irons,each fixed to the ends of adjacent pairs of the vertical angle-irons ofthe column 1.

Theouter ends of the spaced angle-irons forming the cantileverportion 8have each mounted thereona ,bearing 9. munich is iuiielled.; a

the carcass `transverse shaft I at the center of which latter ispositioned a bearing block Il through which passes and is rotatablyiitt'ed a shaft l2 supporting a carcass former I3.

The carcass former I3 has a body I4 in the form of a drum and havingflanges I projecting axially from each end of said body I4.Alternatively the body I4 may be formed with converging sides I5 asillustrated in broken lines in Fig. l,

The upper end of shaft I2 is supported in a bearing II Vcarried on armsIB fixed to bearings I9 through which latter passes a transverse shaft20. The shaft is journalled in bearings QI Y carried on arms 22adjustably mountedl on the The adjust-' arms of the cantilever portion8. able mounting of arms 22 is achieved by slots 23 formed on said arms,said slots engaging bolts 24 by means of which the arms 22 Iare set andretained in adjusted position. The adjustment .of said arms 22 effects avariation of the inclination of shaft I2 about a pivot formed by thetransverse shaft I0. The upper end lof sha-ft I2 extending from thebearing Il is provided with a worm wheel 25 which meshes with a worm 25mounted on transverse shaft 2e.

' Positioned below the carcass former I3 and vertically below and inalignment with the geometrical centre C of said former is a vertical.shaft .21 supported in upper and lower bearings 28 and 29 respectively.The lower bearing 29 is carried on transverse members 3| of a frame 3!mounted for sliding movement on the spaced angle arms of the 'base 'eand the `upper bearing 25 is carried by struts 32 Xed to said frame 3E.

The lower end 'of sha-it 2l is provided with a worm wheel 133 meshingwith worm 34 which is driven in a manner to be hereinafter described.

Fixed to the upper end of shaft 27! is .the apex of a triangular frame35 to which is'iixed a vertical pillar 35 iat one corner `of Said frame35. Mounted for rotation on the pillar 35 is a reel of strip material 38which is fed from the reel 3l over a guide roller 59 mounted onV theupper end of the pillar 35.

The strip material then passes over a second guide lor winding rollermounted for rotation ina horizontal plane on the upper end of a pillar4I fixed to the other corner of the frame .35.

' 'The Winding roller 49 is rotatably supported upon a sleeve lila whichis slidably adjustable on the pillar 5I and is 'retained in yadjustedposition by a clamping screw llb, so that the neller di] may be raisedor lowered for Ya purpose to be 'described presently.

The winding rolle-r it is provided with adjustable friction brakingmeans :l2 whereby tension of the strip material may be varied during thewinding operation. The friction braking means 42 comprises a brake shoei3 .mounted upon fan arm lia pivoted on a bracket 42h on the sleevelila, to engage the periphery of roller 45 under the control of the'adjustable tension YSpring 4B.

The sliding -f-rame 3e is movable :longitudinally by means 'of handwheel 45 arranged Vto feiiect rotation o-f threaded 'rod 45 whichengages a icoinplernentary "threaded opening in end member Il of theframe 33.

The worm '34 -is vsuiiiciently long to allow move- Vment of frame 35 andyet remain 'in mesh with wheel 33, said worm 234 :being carried on 4 ingshaft 5I mounted in bearings carried in the base of column 'I.

A vertical shaft 52 is driven from shaft 5I by bevel gears 53, and bevelgears 54 impart drive to a counter shaft 55 also mounted in bearings xedto column 1. On one end of the countershaft 55 is a gear wheel 5 5coupled through change speed idler gear 51 to gear 53 mounted on one endof a shaft 59 journalled in spaced angle-iron members of the column l.The other `end of shaft 59 is provided with a chain sprocket which isdrive coupled through chain 60 to sprocket 6I freely mounted ontransverse shaft I6.. rlhe drive is then imparted to shaft 20 through asprocket 62, operatively connected with the Sprocket 6I, chain 53 andsprocket 64 to drive the shaft I2 carrying the former I3.

In operation a tire carcass former I3 is mounted on shaft I2, which isadjusted to a required angle of inclination according to the setting,selected by the operator, of the arms 22. Such setting is determined bythe size of the tire carcass being formed yand the size of the beadopening inthe carcass.

'The Ashaft 2l is then .adjusted by hand wheel 45 so that the axis ofsaid shaft is in vertical alignment with the geometrical center `C .ofthe Yformer 43 and the sleeve Ia is .adjusted upon the pillar 4I to setthe winding roller d0 in horizontal alignment with said geometricalcentre.

Strip material 35 is then drawn from the reel 3l over guide rollers 39and lil and secured to the former I3, whereupon, power is ,applied tothe shaft 5I to rotate, through the gearing above described, the shaftsi2 and 2l and therewith the carcass former lSand the frame 35 .androller 4U, the latter revolving in an orbital path about the rotatingcarcass former.

The former i3 and Aframe 3.5 .are driven about their respective axes andthe strip material 38 is continuously drawn from the reel 3l and Woundobliquely .across the face and ends of the former i3 by the orbitaryrevolving roller 45 so that successive windings of the .strip materialare laid on the carcass formerY substantially in a ,plane passingthrough the upper and lower obliquely Vopposite corners at the junctionsof the iianges 'I5 with the body It of said carcass former, thegeometrical centre C and the winding roller 4U.

The beads of the tire carcass are formed at the bases of the flanges i5on the former 'I3 and the desired relationship of the successive layersof strip material in spaced, contiguous or overlapped arrangement iseffected by the selection of relative rotational speeds of the carcass,former i3 and frame 3'5 carrying the strip material 3S and the guideroller 39 and winding roller EU. The change speed gear '51 provides a.convenient means for variation oi the Arelative rotational speeds.

A required tension is imparted to the strip material by means ofadjustment to friction braking means 42.

On completion of the tire carcass the former YI3 is removed from shafti2 and the carcass removed from the said former in known man-ner.

. I claim.: Y

'1. A machine 'of 'the type herein specified for forming pneumatic `tirecarcasses comprising a -`rotatable supporting shaft, strip winding meanscarried by the supporting lshaft a-nd rotatable about the extended vaxisof said shaft, a .strip Supply reel 'carried by said winding means :and

` movable therewith, a rotatable shaft inclined to the extended axis andintersecting said :ani-s at the center of rotation of the strip windingmeans, a carcass former secured to said inclined shaft and disposed withits geometrical center at said center of rotation, and gearingpositively interconnecting said shafts to rotate the strip winding meansand the carcass former at relative rotational speeds.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inclined shaft isangularly adjustable to change the position of the carcass former, andthe supporting shaft and the strip winding means are respectivelylaterally adjustable and axially adjustable to conform with changes inposition of the carcass former.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the strip winding meansincludes a strip feeding roller co-operative with the carcass former todraw strip from the reel and wind said strip upon the carcass former.

4. A machine of the type herein specified for forming pneumatic tirecarcasses comprising a rotatable supporting shaft, strip winding meanscarried by the supporting shaft and rotatable about the extended axis ofsaid shaft, a strip supply reel carried by said winding means andmovable therewith, a rotatable shaft inclined to the extended axis andintersecting said axis at the center of rotation of the strip windingmeans, a carcass former secured to said inclined shaft and disposed withits geometrical center at said center of rotation, and gearingpositively interconnecting said shafts to rotate the strip winding meansand the carcass former at relative rotational speeds, said strip windingmeans including a strip feeding roller cooperative with the carcassformer to draw strip from thereel and wind said strip upon the carcassformer, and means for adjusting and maintaining the tension of the stripas the latter is Wound on the carcass former.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 4 wherein the tension adjusting meanscomprises an adjustable friction brake in contact with the feedingroller.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the strip winding means iscarried by a slidably adjustable frame whereon the supporting shaft isrotatably mounted, and the strip winding means is adjustable on saidframe or carriage in a direction parallel with the axis of thesupporting shaft.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein `the interconnecting gearingis provided with change wheels, whereby the relative rotational speed ofthe supporting shaft and the inclined shaft may be adjusted.

EARNEY WILLIAM WITT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNl-.TED 4STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,362,524 Bullis Dec. 14, 19201,409,671 Clauss Mar. 14, 1922 1,526,572 Ten Eyck Feb. 17, 19251,625,983 Carter Apr. 26, 1927 2,231,092 Schenck Feb. 11, 1941 2,352,055Witt June 20, 1944 2,370,254 Mickelson Feb. 27, 1945

